The Family Jewels

So, I feel like December has wacked me over the head with its busy-ness and hasn’t stopped schooling me all month. Or maybe, November and December are in cahoots to distract me with things like road tripping to Cleveland for Thanksgiving and bussing to NYC to do some serious twinkle-lights appreciation. Seriously! I’ve barely been home, or if I do make it home, I’ve been in a collapsed heap on the couch catching up with United States of Tara and eating things like edamame beans and almonds for dinner.

It makes me feel unbalanced to not be constantly thinking of new blog posts, taking pictures, and squirreling away in my kitchen to concoct something new and fun.

But as my Christmas gift to you, I have a family recipe for one of my favorite holiday cookies that I whipped up for a really fun brunch we hosted recently: Rum Balls of Awesomeness!

From The Vagabond Table

Or, as I like to think: The Ferm Family Jewels. *snerk*.

I think any cookie that takes about ½ hour total to make deserves a prize. Any cookie that tastes this good and incorporates things like walnuts and chocolate and Nilla Wafers deserves First prize. And when they’re balanced with rum and a sprinkling of sugar, well…it’s a GRAND prize for everyone who gets one (or five).

These Rum Balls make an appearance every year in my mom’s epic cookie-baking-whirlwind. She usually bakes 12-14 different KINDS of cookies, of course having 2-3 batches per type, so really an entire part of our pantry is taken over by boxes and tins of the most delicious Christmas cookies you can think of. We laugh in the face of plain old sugar cookies…they are so 1980, I’m afraid. Instead, you should try her pecan tassies (mini pies…bite-sized!) or the ricotta cheese cookies that take the idea of sugar cookies, softens them up real nice, and puts them on steroids. Or the walnut crescents with their fine dusting of confectioner’s sugar, the coconut-chocolate cream cheese bars, the lemon bars, classic fudge, or the brand new chocolate truffle cookies, that, I’m sure, are worth flying across the country for. My mom, in truth, is the best durn Christmas cookie baker in Arizona, if not the country. And I’m one of the lucky few that get these cookies…for 12 days straight…at my fingertips. I promise you more cookies to come, but I think I'll start with Rum Balls.

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This year’s Rum Balls are me attempting to make Mamasan proud by taking the torch and doing the Ferm Family some justice on the East Coast. And, based on their popularity this time around, I’m definitely on the right track.

As an aside, I’m back to AZ starting tomorrow, so there'll be plenty of time to post some goodies on here for the holidays. Much love and hugs to you all!

Givin' Thanks

You can ask Mom, Dad, or anyone in my family: Thanksgiving is my fave.

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Not to bash on Christmas, but I dig the idea of a holiday whose sole purpose is to bring together a ragtag bunch of family and friends to gather round a table and share some damn good food. Share things they are thankful for. Share turkey and cranberries (has there ever been a better combination of foods?) and maybe not share the stuffing (because that usually gets stuck around me somewhere, and I do NOT share stuffing easily.)

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This year I road-tripped it back to my other home, OH-IO, with my roomie to visit her family in Cleveland because, you see, Cleveland Rocks. And holy bajolies, I love me some Thanksgiving food, especially with my adoptive Albanian family (cheering the Buckeyes on to a victory over Michigan wasn't bad either.)

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This year we made a combo of traditional favorites, new Thanksgiving recipes, and some Albanian dishes. Classic roast turkey with rosemary and sage, cinnamon-orange-cranberry sauce, a pimped out gravy, Pancetta and Chestnut Stuffing with Prunes, Rosemary crackers with white bean dip, Wild Rice and Mushroom dressing, an array of kalamata olives, Tave Tiranse, Moussaka, Spanikopita, salad, and roasted veggies…truly, it was divine.

From The Vagabond Table

From The Vagabond Table

And while everyone else in the Midwest was making pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies…I was bucking tradition and making Almond Cheesecake.

From The Vagabond Table

With a crunchy crust made of crushed almonds and Nilla wafers, a whisper of almond in the cheesecake and a sweetened layer of sour cream baked on top…served with a lovely strawberry compote, a slice of this is worthy of kings (or a ragtag group of family and friends).

Also as a side note, today is my two year Blog-iversary! Yay! Dear Vagabond Table Readers… thanks for sharing in these foodie adventures, for your support, and for always being curious about the world beyond your front door. Let’s all celebrate with a slice of Almond Cheesecake as you stick with me for additional recipes and stories. As the Albanians like to cheer: Gezuar!

Go Bananas

First you peel, banana, peel- peel banana

Then you eat banana, eat-eat banana

Then you GO Bananas! GO-GO Bananas!


I think I sang that song about a thousand times during my years in youth group growing up. In the vans traveling around for volleyball games or Sonora, Mexico to build houses or just to plain ole’ winter camp, that song ping-ponged around the van and made us laugh banana-inspired giggles.

Bananas, I know, are not for everyone. In fact, I know people who absolutely, positively hate bananas. Me? I personally like them, but I do not love them. I especially do not love them in fruit salads where they get brown and slimey. Bleh. But bananas, when combined with other powerful food forces, are pretty damn good. Like with homemade granola on some Greek yogurt, drizzled in honey. Or as Bananas Foster. Or, like in a tried-and-true favorite: Banana Bread.

From The Vagabond Table

Growing up my mom was a pro at things like Zucchini Bread and Banana Bread. The banana bread my mom baked had caramelized nuts and coconut on top, was ridiculously decadent, and after my college days in Ohio (where regular packages of these breads found their way into my little postbox), has seemingly disappeared from my regular staples of food munchies.

But no more.

Alas, while mourning the loss of mom’s coconut banana bread, I happened upon this recipe from Molly’s blog over at Orangette, which was perfect. I had exactly two bananas beyond the point of help in the fridge. I had no walnuts to throw in the batter. I had, in short, everything I needed to make this Cinnamon-Sugar Crusted Banana Bread. I like how when the stars align, I get Banana Bread. Thanks, Universe!

From The Vagabond Table

I substituted half the white sugar in the recipe for brown sugar, which made the loaf much darker than normal banana bread, but even tastier. And, with a nod to the fam back in AZ, I threw a couple of handfuls of grated, sweetened coconut along with the cinnamon-sugar mixture onto the top of the loaf. What I love is the crunch: slice into a piece of this and you are first met with a crispy crust of crackly deliciousness. What lies beneath is a dark and moist crumb, not too banana-y, and mostly just right. Slather some butter on and I might just be in heaven. Or, alternatively, I might be eating this exact breakfast (and post-dinner snack) for a week straight.

It could just be the perfect pre-Thanksgiving breakfast to tide you over until the real show begins.

Get Comfortable

I just might be in love with November.

I always think of October as Fall, but seeing as how the trees don't really start blushing until Halloween, which is practically the next month over, I'm just going to go out on a limb (preferably draped in yellowed Gingko leaves) and say: My. I DO love November.

From The Vagabond Table

I most especially love these clear, cold, brisk fall nights with a glass of wine, good friends, and a big plate of Zucchini and Mushroom Lasagna. Followed, of course, by multiple games of Up and Down the River, which could possibly be one of the best card games out there that almost no one has heard of. Trust. This game has quickly become a foundation of our little apartment these past few months.

The last time I made lasagna (3 years ago) it was somewhat of a "fail." I had even added bacon to entice my sister to it, but not even bacon could rally her. The layers kind of slid around, making quite a mess, and the bacon and zucchini just didn't mesh with the rest of the layers and overall it was just so-so, which, in my book, is a huge disappointment where pasta is concerned. Pasta is one of those balls-to-the-wall kind of dishes: either go strong, or go home.

From The Vagabond Table

But this time around, SANS RECIPE I might add (!) it worked. Like, really worked. Even my vegetarian-inclined friend (and her not-so-vegetarian-inclined husband) were fans. It was, quite simply, a solid lasagna recipe that I'm fully comfortable around and everyone liked. I think we all need one of those "I don't need to think twice about making this" kind of pasta dishes, especially a cozy, steamy, veggie-filled delicious lasagna one.

From The Vagabond Table

Extra bonus points: this fed three adults (and seconds!) for dinner and me for lunch and dinner several times later that week. Money saver! Belly saver! All around, a savior of sorts. For this lasagna restored unto me my comfort of making dinners without a recipe, which is quite the accomplishment.

Thanks, Mom

In early October I went back home to AZ for a dear friend’s wedding and some much-needed family time. Each day was sunny, my hammock on the back porch was the perfect getaway, and the evenings were spent around one of two tables: the dining table with steaming plates of Mom’s Spaghetti, or the coffee table playing Apples to Apples.

Going home is just so good for the soul. And my tummy.

Saturday morning before the wedding, my Aunt Deb came over for breakfast. As I’ve mentioned before, Saturday Morning Breakfasts are not a small thing by any means at our house. They are, indeed, a Very Big Thing, and my Mom, God bless her, is the Queen of these breakfasts.

Since I was last home, she has discovered two new breakfasty staples that I’ll not soon forget. In fact, I’ll be pining for them till Christmas Morning Breakfast, since that’s all I’ll be asking Santa for this year. These two things are: a Sausage-Mushroom Breakfast Bake and Ina Garten’s Cheese Danishes.

From The Vagabond Table

Breakfast, my friends, has gone beyond pancakes and French toast.

I love egg-baked-things. How can you not love the versatility of something that’s ideal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Especially something made with sausage (yum!) and mushrooms (double-yum!) For the vegetarians out there, just take out the sausage and you’ll still have a hearty dish, worthwhile and filling. It is quite the breakfast casserole.

From The Vagabond Table

Also, Cheese Danishes. I never thought that these could be made at home, but Ina Garten has found a way, and just in time. Better than any cheese danish I’ve had at a bakery, they are warm, light, lemony, and ultra-addictive.

From The Vagabond Table

Breakfast turned out to be a lovely affair in the shade by the pool with everyone catching up over hot cups of my Dad's coffee and plates laden with deliciousness. I am a lucky daughter. Not only to have a mom that throws together such hearty breakfasts for a wayward, DC-based daughter such as myself, but to have a family that continues to gather together during the week to simply eat, talk, and laugh. It’s a ritual as old as time but somehow never seems to get old.

Christmas can’t come soon enough.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie, Revisited

I have a confession. It’s been a while since I’ve branched into cookies.

The roomie and I make these cookies all the time. They’re easy and taste like pecan pie. They travel well, you see, which is good for all of our friends and families that live in other states, but not good for our palates which, once they find something they like, refuse to try anything else. Palates are a finicky bunch. I’ve found you have to trick them a bit with words like “dark chocolate” and “walnuts” and go from there.

From The Vagabond Table

It’s been a while since this disappointing chocolate chip/oatmeal cookie episode 2 springs ago, and I thought I’d try my hand at a new recipe. One tested by none other than Amanda Hesser herself, the gal behind Recipe Redux, the great New York Times Magazine food blog that takes old-timey recipes and makes them new. (I can’t wait to make my own Worcestershire sauce!) Also, I saw a picture of these cookies from The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century by the same Amanda Hesser in my latest Saveur magazine, and, well, sometimes the stars align and you find yourself just totally committed, whether you even realized it or not, to baking new cookies.

The thing is, I think we are sometimes a bit obsessed with BIG. 60 oz. Thirstbusters you can swim in from 7-11. Extra-large value meals. SUVs. All-You-Can-Eat buffets. Bigger, I’m afraid does not always make for better. And these cookies are a rarity to find in the ‘biggest, best’ world we live in.

From The Vagabond Table

For one thing, they’re flat.

Also, they’re small-ish with crispy edges and chewy in the middle. But, you see, they have shaved chocolate throughout the entire batter, in addition to chocolate chunks and some walnut pieces thrown in.

And, bonus points, you can stack them. So fun!

These are just good, solid chocolate chip cookies. They might not be the biggest. But they are a pretty fun take on an old classic, a throwback to some golden era of Grandma’s Cookiedom, one I’m welcoming with open arms and a bear hug because that is ONE thing we can all agree on. Hugs are best when they’re big enough to reach for the world and grab you instead.

Oktober Already

What is it about Fall that makes room for my (seemingly) infinite amounts of nostalgia?

From The Vagabond Table

Local pumpkin patch

It’s not like I grew up in a place that had a lot of FALL around. Somehow, I lucked out with one gigantor Mulberry tree amongst the saguaros and Palo Verdes in the backyard, that did, indeed, change with the seasons. Beyond that, and some pretty sweet pumpkin carving on newspapers in the carport, Mesa, AZ was a sunshiney place that would be like summer anywhere else. Leaves don’t turn. I guess the birds go away for a bit, but the oranges, lemons, and limes come out and it’s suddenly citrus season. The desert just gets a little browner, a little dryer, and a bit colder.

From The Vagabond Table

Sedona in October

But Fall in DC is something distinct. It is sudden and blusters in with playful winds and rainy days, enlightens you with clear and crisp weekend mornings, and moves you towards mugs of hot somethings, like cocoa or toddies or coffees or chai teas. It’s also the time when it is totally okay to sit and watch four episodes in a row of Mad Men, all curled up in the blanket your mother knit for you before your freshman year of College. And it is breathtakingly stunning, especially when the Gingko trees light up, bright yellow, like legendary warning lights before the dead stop of Winter and big orange pumpkins bring smiles to your face as you hug them close. Fall, it seems, is that strange dichotomy between the absolute best of things and the sad knowledge that all warm and sunny things must come to an end, at least for a while.

It is also the time, (albeit somewhat delayed by my American calendar as opposed to Das German Kalendar!) for Oktoberfest. I honestly can think of no better party than Oktoberfest to celebrate the coziness of Fall with the fun of Summer. To the bountiful Fall and beer and brats! To pretzels and mustard! To Oktoberfest!

From The Vagabond Table

Here are a few recipes for you, if you should so choose to have an Oktoberfest party this Fall. Heck, I’d throw this party any time of the year, because I love good beer, and, now that I know how to make homemade Bratwurst Bites with BEER MUSTARD, it’s totally worth it. You know what else is worth it? Serving this absolutely fantastic Braised Red Cabbage dish alongside a gigantic soft pretzel from Whole Foods.

From The Vagabond Table

Autumn is good, and, while it may make you a bit nostalgic and dreamy, it’s absolutely worth it, especially when you have Brews and Bratwurst Bites and a sweet-tangy Red Cabbage dish to accompany you and your friends. Because I don’t think you can quite enjoy an epic Spring without living through an epic Fall.